Transformation of skills for lecturers in school of foreign languages

Academics in higher education are one and probably the most important determinant of the future of higher education. The roles and competencies expected from the lecturers in higher education have been in a transformation following the massification and proliferation in the higher education system. Within this framework, it seems clear that lecturers are experiencing upskilling and deskilling in specific areas. To illustrate, transformation at present seems to deskill lecturers in some of their professional and pedagogical skills whereas it upskills certain technological and administrative skills. Within the framework of social policy, proletarianization of academic work, academic labour becoming undervalued, loss of authority and responsibility, increase in managerial control and division of labour following the division between teaching and research are problems faced by the lecturers. A new subclass emerged for lecturers who work on contracts and lacking job security is considered to be another problem. Establishing the grounds and making policies for lecturers working in state and private universities to upskill and upgrade their skills and at the same time taking necessary precautions for the areas of deskilling is essential for policy makers to be able to contribute raising more qualified university lecturers. This exploratory qualitative thesis aims to look into the transformation of skills for 14 lecturers working in state and private universities in Ankara. As a result of in depth interviews conducted with English lecturers teaching in School of Foreign Languages, it is examined whether there has been a transformation in lecturers' pedagogical, academic or administrative skills and if so in which fields the transformation do exist. Hereby it provides an insight about how and what way the present transformation in higher education affects lecturers' roles and skills. As a result of the research, it is observed that the upskilling exists in technological and pedagogical skills. Work intensification, limited professional development opportunities, exclusion from decision making processes and increasing managerial control results in deskilling in research and teaching. Nearly half of the participants stated that they favor not being autonomous and also not being an active participant in decision making processes which may indicate that lecturers feel more comfortable when education processes are predetermined. Lecturers deprived of the opportunities for upskilling and upgrading themselves seem to be effected negatively in terms of their awareness, interests and need for professional development. In addition to that, work intensification, unseen responsibilities, unsupportive managerial attitudes are among the determinants of deskilling. It is noted that the codes like routinization, monotonous, mechanization and concern are repeated by lecturers several times.